Return
by kelzey
Summary: An old friend returns to SVU.
1. Chapter 1

**FOUR SEASONS HOTEL**

Elliot parked the car infront of the Four Seasons Hotel. Cop cars were flooded around the building, along with the ambulance and over a dozen reporters. Elliot and Olivia got out of the car, both pulling their jackets tight around themselves. The morning was freezing. Both Detectives showed their ID to the patrolman and slipped under the police tape, headed towards the entrance of the building. Once inside the hotel they could see several officers taking statements from the guests and staff. By the corner of the room an older man was making wild arm movements, motioning to the other police officers.

Elliot nodded his head towards the man. "Must be the owner."

"Yeh. Seems pretty pissed about all the attention." Olivia turned towards the elevator as another officer came striding out.

The man nodded in greeting. "Detectives. Room's on the top floor. It's pretty bad up there."

Elliot took out his notepad. "Any ideas on what happened?"

The cop shook his head. "Not really. Room service found her around 6, the door wide open, no signs of forced entry. Girl was on the bed. CSU is up there now."

Olivia looked up towards the ceiling. "Security videos?"

"My boys are getting them now, they'll be at your office by the time you get back."

Olivia thanked the officer and both she and Elliot stepped into the elevator.

--

**HOTEL ROOM**

The room was full of CSU officers. The white walls were covered in blood. Elliot and Olivia stepped into the room, avoiding the evidence markers and making their way towards Ryan O'Halloran, one of the CSU's, who was standing at the side of the bed.

Olivia stopped at the end of the bed. The body of the girl was sprawled on top of the covers. The amount of blood made it impossible to see where her injuries were. The crime scene photographer stood beside Olivia, taking more pictures of the body.

"Do you have anything yet, Ryan?"

"Nothing so far. Door wasn't forced, no sign of anyone else in the room, no sign of a murder weapon."

Olivia turned around towards Elliot, who had been speaking to an officer at the side of the room.

"Victim's Faith Mayshaw, checked in, alone, two days ago. None of the other quest heard any noises from the room, not last night, not at all."

Olivia's eyes swept across the blood on the floor and walls. "How could something like this happen without anyone hearing anything?"

Elliot sighed. "Who knows. CSU got much?"

"No." Olivia's eyes flicked back to the girl on the bed. "We'll know more after Warner's had a look at the girl."

--

**MORGUE**

Warner had just finished her notes when Elliot and Olivia walked into the morgue.

"Morning." Warner put her notes down and turned towards the detectives. Olivia caught her attention. The detective looked paler than usual. Probably the case. Every now and then a particular case affected a detective more than usual. Warner didn't mention her observation.

Elliot spoke first. "You got anything for us Doc?"

Warner gave Elliot a small smile. "Not much, your perp was careful. No fluids, no fibers, no hairs."

"So we got nothing."

"No, I said we didn't have _much_, not nothing. The victim scratched her attacker, but your perp cleaned under her fingernails. He didn't do a very good job though. He missed a bit." Warner picked up a small vile, containing a minute piece of skin. "Not much, but enough to get DNA."

Olivia walked around the examination table, taking a good look at the body. "Cause of death?"

"She bled out. Probably from here." Warner motioned to a deep cut across the victim's throat. "She has several other deep cuts on her body. All were inflicted with the same weapon. Probably a kitchen knife."

Olivia continued to stare at the body. "Was she raped before or after?"

"Before the fatal cut on her throat. Impossible to tell when the others were inflicted, though definitely before the final cut."

Elliot cleared his throat. "How long will the DNA take?"

"I'll get the results to you as soon as possible."

--

**SQUAD ROOM**

Elliot stood up infront of the board, pinning up pictures of the crime scene, Olivia sat at her desk, with Fin perched on the corner and Munch standing between the desks.

"The victim has been positively ID'd by her mother." Elliot turned to face the group, sliding his hands into his pockets. "It looks like she let her attacker in, no forced entry. Blood patterns suggest he knifed her whilst she was standing in the centre of the room."

Olivia spoke from her seat. "After that it looks like he threw her on the bed, raped her, then slit her throat."

"We didn't get anything off the security tapes." Fin had dealt with the tapes. "Unfortunately they weren't working. Manager said something about there being a malfunction in the camera system."

"What a load of bull. I bet he's just trying to save himself a couple of bucks." Munch spoke up from the back of the group, as cynical as ever. "It's all about money these days, no one cares about the safety of our society anymore."

"It doesn't matter what he cares about." Olivia turned to face Munch. "We don't have the footage, or any other witness for that matter."

"Well what about forensics?" Fin had moved to study the pictures on the board.

Elliot stood beside him, hands still in his pocket. "Not much. Warner . . ."

Elliot was cut off by Cragen, who barked at them from the door of his office.

"Olivia! Elliot! My office! Now!"

Elliot and Olivia both walked over to Cragens office. Olivia gave Elliot an enquiring look. She didn't think either of them had done anything wrong lately. The entered the office and Elliot closed the door behind them. Cragen stood behind his desk, a stern look on his face.

Elliot glanced over towards Olivia then back to Cragen. "Captain?"

Cragen rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Warner got a DNA match on the skin found under the victims nail."

"She did?" Olivia seemed confused. "Why didn't she call us?"

"She thought it'd be best if I found out first."

Both Elliot and Olivia waited for Cragen to speak. Neither of them were sure what was going on.

"The DNA is a match to Brian Cassidy."


	2. Chapter 2

**CRAGENS OFFICE**

Both Elliot and Olivia looked stunned. Elliot was speechless, frozen. Olivia sunk into the chair infront of her.

"But, ah, it, it can't.." Olivia struggled to find the words. "It can't be. Are you sure?"

Cragen looked like he'd lost a million dollars. He nodded. "Warner was stunned when she got the results so she had them run them a second time. It's definitely a match to Cassidy."

"Bloody hell." Elliot shook his head, having found his voice. "He's a good kid. He wouldn't do anything like this."

"Well at the moment the DNA says otherwise. We need to find him, sort this out." Cragen sighed heavily. "Now, do you wanna tell Munch or should I?"

"We will." Olivia rose from the chair. "He's not gonna believe it though."

They moved towards the door.

"Wait." Cragen stood up behind his desk. "Are you guys gonna be able to handle this, or do I need to give the case to someone else?"

"We can handle it, Captain." Olivia opened the door and walked out of the office. Elliot began to follow.

"Elliot? Keep an eye her, okay?"

Elliot nodded. He walked out of the office and back towards Fin and Munch. Olivia was already back at her desk. Munch eyed him closely as he walked back to the group.

"So you going to tell us what happened?"

Elliot looked over towards Olivia. She motioned for him to tell them.

"The DNA Warner got from the skin under the fingernail was a match to Brian Cassidy."

Munch exploded. "WHAT!?" Cassidy was like a little brother to him. He grown quite fond of him during the few months they'd worked together. "No! No way in hell did he have anything to do with this." He was pacing the room quite furiously by now, shaking his head. He refused to accept the possibility that Cassidy was involved in the murder of the girl.

Fin looked slightly confused. "Cassidy? He's the kid who worked here before me, isn't he?" The other three detectives all nodded. "Is it possible that he was involved in this?"

"NO!" Munch spun to face Fin, his face full of anger. "He is not capable of something like this."

Fin looked surprised. HE had never seen Munch this angry.

"He's a good kid, and a good cop." Elliot crossed his arms, still struggling to get his mind around it. "I hope to hell he's not involved but the evidence places him with the girl. He definitely had contact with her at some point."

Back in his office, Cragen stood by the window watching his four best detectives. Olivia was at her desk, staring blankly across the squad room. He always got the impression that she cared a lot more about Cassidy then she let on. Elliot was standing next to his desk, his arms folded tightly across his chest. He had been speechless when Cragen told him. Nothing ever made Elliot speechless. Munch was stilling pacing the room, burning a hole in the floor. This had hit him harder than the other two. He adored the kid, although he would deny it to anyone that asked. Then there was Fin. He hadn't known the kid, so at least he had one detective focused on the case. Cragen sighed and went back to his desk. Maybe there was an explanation to this. Maybe the kid wasn't involved.

--

**NARCOTICS UNIT**

Early the next morning, Elliot and Olivia knocked on the door of the captain's office in the narcotics division. They hadn't gone after Cassidy the night before; they all, bar Fin, had been in shock, and Cragen thought it would be best if they proceeded slowly, especially as it was a cop they were investigating. A deep, booming voice invited them into the office.

"Captain." Both detectives greeted the captain, shaking hands over the desk. The captain motioned for them to sit down.

"What can I do for you, Detectives?"

"We're here about one of your detectives, sir." Cragen had told them to inform the captain before arresting Cassidy.

The captain looked surprised. "Really? Which one?"

"Brian Cassidy. We have reason to believe he was involved in the rape and murder of a woman early yesterday morning." Olivia could hardly believe the words coming from her own mouth.

The captain looked shocked. "Cassidy!? He's a good kid. I can't believe he'd be capable of something like that. Especially after working SVU. Are you sure?"

Elliot leaned forward in his chair. "We have evidence suggesting he was with the woman before she was attacked. Is he in today?"

"He's supposed to be, but he didn't come in today, or yesterday for that matter. No one's heard from him."

Olivia and Elliot just looked at each other. Another sign of a guilty man?

--

**CASSIDY'S APARTMENT**

Elliot rapped his knuckles hard against the door. "Cassidy? Open the door." No answer. He turned to Olivia and nodded his head. They both pulled their guns from their holsters. Elliot shifted his weight to his back foot then threw himself forward into the door. His shoulder collided with a thud, slamming the door open against the inside wall. Both Detectives entered the apartment, their guns held out infront. Elliot headed towards the bedroom. Olivia scanned the living room and kitchen.

"Clear, El." She lowered her gun to look around. The apartment was messy, a typical bachelor pad, but nothing to suggest that Cassidy had taken off.

"Liv?" Elliot called from the bedroom. "You better have a look at this."

Olivia left the living room and entered the bedroom. She crossed the room to the ensuite, where Elliot stood in the doorway. Looking into the bathroom she saw the blood. A pile of clothes formed a pool of blood on the floor. Olivia peered into the sink. The soap sat over the drain, both it and the sink spattered with blood. She looked back at Elliot. He could see the pain in her eyes.

"Sorry, Liv. The evidence is stacked against him." He pulled his phone from his pocket as he turned back into the bedroom, leaving Olivia staring around the bathroom.


	3. Chapter 3

**SQUAD ROOM**

Elliot and Olivia entered the squad room, meet by a barrage of solemn looking faces. Elliot threw his coat over his chair. Olivia slumped down at her desk. Her head was pounding. She had the flu, and the stress over the last 24 hours, and her sleepless night weren't helping. She crossed her arms on her desk, and, closing her eyes, rested her head on her arms. Cragen came striding out of his office, his eyes glancing over the faces in the room.

"Elliot." Elliot turned to face the captain. "I take it you didn't find Cassidy?" He stopped infront of Elliot, folding his arms across his chest.

"No, but we found a lot of blood in his bathroom. CSU's over there now."

"What did his captain say?"

"Well, he was just as surprised as we were. He hasn't seen Cassidy today, or yesterday."

"And he didn't think that was odd?"

"Said he's a good cop and must've been pretty sick to bunk off work. Thought it was best to leave him alone."

"He's right." Munch's voice drifted over from his desk. "Cassidy is a good cop --"

"John." Cragen tried to stop him.

"He is. He couldn't do this."

"The evidence says he did, Munch." Elliot didn't think he could this either, but they had evidence saying he had.

"No, NO." Munch rose from his seat, clearly agitated. "I don't care what the evidence says, he could not do something like this. I don't know how you guys could even think he would. He was one of us, for Christs sake. Why am I the only one willing to give him a chance here?"

Cragen was becoming equally as agitated. "None of us think he could do this, John, none of us, but the evidence is overwhelming. His DNA, the blood --"

"He is one of us. Maybe you could put some effort into trying to prove his innocence rather than assuming he's guilty just because some of the evidence say's he might be." Munch stormed out of the squad room, slamming the doors open.

"JOHN." Cragen went to go after him.

"I'll go captain." Fin jumped up from his desk and followed Munch out of the room.

Cragen turned towards Olivia. She still had her head down. He walked over to her and crouched down beside. He shook her arm gently, waking her up. She looked at him, startled and bleary-eyed.

"Go home Liv, get some rest."

She shook her head. "No, captain, I'm fine."

"No your not. You're sick, you're tired, you need to rest. You're of no use to me like this."

"Captain, I wanna be on this case, I NEED to be on this case --"

"And you will be. Tomorrow. Now go." He stood up and turned towards Elliot, who was now sitting as his desk. "Take her home, and make sure she stays there."

--

**OLIVIA'S APARTMENT**

Olivia fiddled with her keys, trying to find the right one. Finally, she managed to get the right one into the lock and let herself and Elliot into the apartment. She threw her keys and jacket on the table and collapsed into the lounge.

"I should be out there looking for him, El."

Elliot chuckled at her. "You could barely find the right key, you'd have no hope at finding him in this state."

Olivia sat upright in the lounge. "I'm fine, I just . . ."

Elliot cut her off. "You're not fine, Liv, and no one holds that against you. Now get some rest, and you can look for him tomorrow." Elliot left her on the lounge, closing the door behind him.

Olivia lay back down, maybe she did need a rest.

She woke up around midnight, having slept through the entire afternoon. There was a loud banging on the door . If this is Elliot, I'm gonna kill him for waking me up, she thought. She dragged herself up from the lounge and moved towards the door. Pulling it open, she expected to find Elliot.

"Look, El, . . ." Her eyes snapped open as she saw the person outside the door. Cassidy was unshaven, his clothing dishevelled, his eyes tired. Olivia was lost for words. Cassidy pushed past her into the apartment. She turned, closing the door, to face him.

"Olivia, I, um, I know I shouldn't be here but I needed to talk to someone and Munch wasn't home so.."

Olivia moved towards the phone. "I need to call Elliot." Cassidy grabbed her by the arms, pulling her away from the phone.

"Please don't, Liv, I just wanna talk."

"What is there to talk about Brian? You're the prime suspect for the rape and murder of that girl. There's a lot of evidence against you." Olivia had backed away from him. She was unsure whether to hear him out or ring Elliot.

"I know, and I can't explain it, but I didn't rape or kill her. Please, Liv, you gotta believe me." His eyes were filled with desperation.

"Why did you run?"

"What?"

"You ran. You didn't turn up at work, you weren't at your apartment. You ran."

"No, I didn't, I was just, confused. I was in shock."

"Well it made things look a hellofa lot worse, Brian."

"I know, but, it was,..." He rubbed his hands over his face.

Olivia went back up to him. "If you wanna get yourself out of this, you need to hand yourself in first thing tomorrow. Talk to Cragen, convince him that you're innocent. The longer you avoid arrest, the worst it's gonna look. Now get out before I call Elliot." She walked over to the door and opened it, waiting form him to leave.

Cassidy walked right up to her. "I am innocent, Liv." She said nothing, just waited for him to leave. She closed the door behind him, leaning her back against the door. Tears welled in her eyes. She wished she could have let him stay, but she knew that would have been one of the most stupid mistakes in her life. She hoped he would hand himself in. If he had any sense, he would listen to her.

--

--

_I HAVE ANOTHER STORY IN MIND BUT I NEED TO KNOW IN WHAT ORDER ELLIOT OLIVIA CRAGEN MUNCH CASSIDY AND JEFFRIES ARRIVED AT SVU. DOES ANYONE KNOW?_


	4. Chapter 4

**SQUAD ROOM**

Elliot walked into the squad room early the next morning. Before he could reach his desk Cragen poked his head out of his office.

"Elliot. There's been another murder at the North Breeze Hotel. I want you and Olivia down there now."

Cragen returned to his office, slamming the door behind him. Elliot turned to leave, almost running into Olivia, who had her head down, reading the paper. He pushed her arm gently, turning her back towards the door.

"Come on, Liv, there's been another murder."

Olivia followed him through the doors. "Have you read the paper yet, Elliot?" Her voice was agitated, she was struggling to keep her emotions at bay.

"Nope, why?" He reached the car and turned to face her.

"The case is plastered over the front cover. They're making Cassidy out to be a monster. The whole city's gonna think he's guilty." She practically threw the paper at Elliot before getting into the car.

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**NORTH BREEZE HOTEL**

The grizzly scene in the hotel room was almost identical to the first crime scene. Ryan approached the Detectives as they entered the room.

Olivia walked over to view the body on the bed. Elliot stopped to talk to Ryan.

"What've we got?"

"Looks just like the first murder. Same MO, similar blood spatter patterns. She was raped, like the first. I've already taken samples of the fluids. Thought you'd want the DNA back ASAP. We're just about ready to move the body."

Elliot walked over to Olivia. "It's the same as the first murder, Liv." Olivia just nodded.

Elliot and Olivia interviewed the hotel staff whilst the body was moved to the morgue. Just like the first murder, no one had seen or heard anything. The girl had checked in alone and had no visitors. The hotel had no security cameras.

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**MORGUE**

"You're a bit early Detectives." Warner was bustling around the table, preparing the body for autopsy.

"Yeh, we know, but we were hoping you'd have something from the DNA."

Olivia walked around the table, still taking in the body. "Ryan said he'd sent you samples as soon as he could."

"He did, and I have some results." Warner sighed loudly. "But you're not gonna like them."

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**SQUAD ROOM**

Olivia and Elliot were met by sorrow faces as they walked through the doors of the squad room. Olivia was distracted, still thinking about what Warner had said.

_"The DNA is Cassidy's. . . . . . .time of death is around midnight."_

She slumped into her chair. She hadn't told Elliot that Cassidy had been to her place around midnight. She didn't know why, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to tell him. The hotel was close to her apartment, and the time of death wasn't exact, so she couldn't give Cassidy a solid alibi anyway.

Whilst she had been thinking, Cragen had come out of his office to meet them.

"Whilst you two were at the morgue, I sent Fin and Munch to talk to the victims sister."

"Do you know if they've got anything?"

"Not yet. They're on their way back now." Cragen sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Cassidy's handed him self in."

"WHAT." Both Elliot and Olivia were shocked by the news.

"Have you talked to him?"

"Yep, and all he's said is that he didn't do it."

"Well it doesn't really matter what he says, I have enough to convict him." Alex Cabot walked into the squad room. "And my boss's are pressing me to make an indictment."

At that moment, Fin and Munch joined the group.

Cragen pulled his hands out of his pockets and folded his arms across his chest. "You two get anything?"

Fin flipped through the pages of his notebook. "Yeh. The sister was at a party last night but the victim left a message on her answering machine. Started like a normal conversation but then you hear someone else in the background." He dropped his notebook onto his desk. "You hear some scuffling and screaming. Cuts out after two minutes."

"Can you hear anyone else's voice on there?" asked Elliot.

"Nah, but we sent it down to the lab, see if they can get anything off it. It did give us an exact time of the attack though. Answering machine picked up at 12.04."

"12.04?" Olivia sat forward in her chair, her eyes wide open.

"Yeh, why?"

"He couldn't have done it."

Elliot turned to Olivia. "Come on, Liv, we've been through this before. The evidence puts him there."

"I know, but there is no way he committed the second murder."

Cragen looked at her curiously. "How can you be so sure of that?"

Olivia took a deep breath. "Because he was at my apartment."


End file.
